Happy Earth Day!

Jesse: I want to stay in school tomorrow. I want to guarantee the survival of the earth’s environment.

A.C. Slater: Can’t that wait until Monday?

Jesse: No, there’s a plastic foam protest tomorrow, and I intend to be part of it.

A.C. Slater: Oh well, have fun. I’ll be at the beach with my plastic foam boogey board.

Jesse: How can you be so irresponsible?

A.C. Slater: You know everything about the environment except how to enjoy it.

There you have it. On one side is someone so busy making plastic foam her enemy that she fails to consider how it could be made an eco-friend (boogey board). On the other side is a non-environmentalist who finds an alternative use. He finds a solution by ignoring the problem.

Yes, the above exchange actually is from Saved by the Bell. This is the full article from NRO about Styrophobia. This post is from the editors at NRO, and here is an excerpt:

Thirty-five years ago, political scientist Anthony Downs discerned what he called the “issue-attention cycle,” a five-stage process during which the public and the media grow alarmed over an issue, agitate for action, generate reams of scary headlines, and then begin to draw back as they gradually recognize that the problem has been exaggerated and they get a good look at the price tag for sweeping action.

While Downs thought that the issue-attention cycle for the environment would last longer than for most issues, global warming is starting to follow the same familiar pattern as the “population bomb” and the “we’re-running-out-of-everything” scares of the 1970s. The planet’s coldest winter in 30 years has cooled the fever of climate panic. And while one cool year does not a trend make, a few more cool years and there will be a crisis in climate alarmism.

I think this article is really interesting about the unintended, and often deadly, consequences of environmental activism. Here are a couple of paragraphs:

Millions of acres of rainforest are fast disappearing as farmers in South America, Asia and elsewhere rush to clear land for cultivation. Among the culprits is government subsidization of corn-based ethanol — a supposed antidote to climate change. U.S. subsidies are expected to top $5 billion this year, which is prompting American farmers to devote more land to corn in place of soybeans. Consequently, their counterparts around the globe are clearing acreage to capitalize on higher prices for the displaced crops.

Every 30 seconds, a child somewhere in the world dies of malaria, according to the World Health Organization. The disease claims more than one million lives each year, although it is both preventable and treatable. The principle means of prevention is control of malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Of the 12 pesticides currently recommended, DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) is widely recognized as the most effective. But the erroneous claims about the toxicity of DDT in Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1972 to ban the pesticide, precipitating the suspension of spraying in dozens of countries — and the deaths of tens of millions of people.

And how about nuclear power? Here is an article that talks a little bit about how France has been using nuclear power to gain some energy independence. This is a very dated article, but illustrates major points that are still relevant today about why nuclear power is clearly one of our best options. An excerpt about France's success with nuclear power:

One answer is in front of their eyes, courtesy of the French: nuclear energy. In the 1970s, France decided to lessen its dependence on oil and gas imports by embracing nuclear power. It worked. In three decades, the country’s total energy consumption derived from oil fell from 71 percent to 39 percent.

Meanwhile, the country generates nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, and even exports significant amounts to its neighbors.

And here's a friendly environmental message...there is some language, or maybe a lot: